At the End

I only have a week left until I meet my little girl so I figured I had better document a few things. I love being pregnant. I love to see the two pink lines, I love to tell the kids and see them light up, I love to feel the baby move, I even love delivering and seeing my baby for the first time. I love the ultrasound and finding out the gender of the baby and then trying to hold off getting everything ready too early. I never make it. I always have clothes washed and put in drawers prior to 30 weeks. Between my being overly prepared and excited I can't wait any longer than that. This pregnancy has been only slightly different from my others. I still enjoy all of those things. This pregnancy they found out I have placenta previa. They didn't seem too concerned because often it corrects itself and you can deliver normally. That was not the case with me. I am a worrier. I skipped a trip to visit Mom, Dad, and Grandma because I was worried about the risks. If the placenta does tear away for any reason it could cause severe bleeding/hemorrhaging. I feel very safe being 5 minutes from my hospital here and so I decided it wasn't worth the risk for her or myself. I have never been a pregnant lady that felt I needed to take it easy. I have tried with this one though to keep braxton hicks at a minimum so I don't dilate too early (the doctors say that is when the placenta will most likely tear away and bleeding will result). I have been VERY blessed that I have not had ANY bleeding as of yet. That is unusual with placenta previa. Especially since the placenta almost completely covers my cervix and I have been dilated to at least a 3 or 4 by 37-38 weeks with 3 of my previous pregnancies. I will be 37 weeks tomorrow. I know that it is due to the priesthood blessings I have received. I hope she will continue to sit high and that dilation will hold off so we can stick with the scheduled date for next Friday. I am dreading the C-section. I know that a lot of ladies have to have them, but I have always just felt sorry for them. I never thought it would be me (maybe that's the Richards' in me. Ben has a saying that I love..."It could be worse...it could be me"). I dread the recovery. My recoveries were always so great with my other babies. I feel sad I don't get to meet my baby in a more natural way. I am, however, very grateful that C-sections are an option these days. It would be a disaster without it. So while I feel a bit bummed about the inevitable surgery, I am so glad she will arrive safely. That is every mothers' ultimate concern. I just can't wait to hold her. Days go by so slowly when you are pregnant. So until then, I am trying to enjoy my other kids and savor the last weekend as a family of 6.

First Day of School

August 8, 2011. Kate is a big Kindergartener and Eliza is in 1st grade.

Now it's just me and the boys all day long. Kindergarten is all day this year. I thought I wouldn't know what to do with myself...I've figured it out alright. Don't get me wrong. I do miss them, but it is so nice to have a little time with just the boys. It makes going out so easy.

I love their faces in this one. Kate is such a riot. (She has not been quite this excited for school every day since.) Eliza is just so pretty. The girls play together at recess and run into each other at lunch and in the bathrooms sometimes. I love that they look out for each other. Eliza told me the first couple of weeks of school that she was trying to help Kate break up with some boy that was in love with her. Kate told me she wasn't going to have a boyfriend because I told her it wasn't the right choice. If only they listened this well to everything I said their teenage years would be soooo easy.

The girls' school is a half a mile away which is really nice. Nathaniel and I have eaten lunch with them a few times each and that has been really fun. I loved it when my Dad would come eat lunch with me. I still remember a few times from back in 3rd grade. He brought those pink snowball things in to me. It was very memorable. I love to see the girls' faces when I walk in. They are excited to see me, but thrilled to see Tanner and Nathan.

Kate's Birthday

Katelyn turned 5 on July 13th. Of course she wanted a swimming party at Nana and Papa's house. We had Nancy and Quentin there to join us with their kids. It's so nice that they have kids the same age and gender as mine. Instant built-in friends. It is just getting cuter as time passes. Here is Kate and Q getting ready to sing.

Blowing out the candles.

Getting every bit of that ice cream from the cone. It reminds me of my grandpa's rule about getting as many refills as you wanted as long as you kept your cone. I would use my finger like Kate is doing to get the ice cream out without compromising the cone.

She wanted cupcakes instead of a cake. I tried to make them somewhat interesting.

Opening presents. She got My Little Ponies. I loved those when I was little. It's funny to see my daughter playing with the same toys I did as a kid.

The cousins gave her dress-up stuff. I'll have to flash back to this picture on her real wedding day. She looks so sweet.

After cake and presents we did some forgotten fireworks in the backyard. The kids had a blast. Both of my Nathaniel's love fireworks.

I didn't know how Tanner would react, but he LOVED them. He was laughing so hard and pointing at them. It was so cute. He's sitting next to his buddy, Isaac.

(Blogger has been shuffling my pictures and I am too lazy to switch them. Here are all of the ladies helping/watching Kate open presents.)

More of the audience watching the fireworks. I love that the little boys are clapping for the show.

And the Tie Goes to...

The LADIES! We're having a girl! I had suspected all along, but I'm not always right (shocking, I know). We are very excited, but are stumped for names since we do not agree on any. It sure makes things interesting for us though. We search for names and then the other turns them down. All it takes is one that we agree on, it shouldn't be that hard. Supposedly.

Weekend Family Fun

On Saturday, Papa and Elizabeth took us out shooting. I didn't think it would be something we could bring the kids to, but they said otherwise so we gave it a try. It was a fun time. Nathan is such a boy and LOVED the guns. He must take after someone I know...

Katelyn was fearless and very trigger happy. Don't worry, I had a good eye on the other kids.

Eliza was a little more hesitant at first, but only at first. She too was a little trigger happy. I wish I would have had time to take a picture of Nathaniel shooting the AK 47. That was really cool. He liked that gun. Papa helped Nathan shoot that and I heard he was grinning ear to ear. Boys and their toys.

Tanner hated wearing these at first. They wouldn't stay on his head and kept making his eyes get squished. I thought he was adorable...as always.

I love that his cheeks look chubby when he wears those earmuff things.

I love this picture of both of my boys. Nathaniel had a good time. He loved being able to bring the kids. (The kids were perfectly safe by the way.) It wasn't as scary to bring them as I was anticipating. We all had a good time, except Kate who kept going back to sit in the van since it was too loud. After shooting we (myself and the two girls) went to a community activity with Nana, Papa, Aunt Elizabeth, and the cousins. The boys had to nap so Nathaniel stayed with them. There was swimming and fun stuff at the park.

Papa must have been trying to sport a new fad. I'm not familiar with this fad yet. I'm not sure it will take off with the teens. We got a good laugh about it and he didn't mind at all. He's such a good sport.

This is the giant slip-n-slide they had. The fire dept. brought out one of their fire hoses and soaked the place. The kids had a great time.

Blessing in Disguise

On Tuesday afternoon the boys and I went outside to the van to go get the girls from school. When I was buckling Tanner in his carseat I looked up and saw the back window was shattered into a million pieces. It was still intact, but in a million pieces. I called my friend, Talana, and switched carpool with her since I didn't want my back window to fall out. (As a side note, I love carpooling, it makes life so much easier.) As I looked at the window it was pretty obvious that it had been shot by a BB gun or something very similar. It had to have happened between 11:45 and 2:45 in the afternoon while it was parked in my driveway. I had to call the police just to be sure I got a case number if my insurance wanted it. I knew that nothing was going to come of it other than that.
I called my insurance company to once again question their policy on glass coverage. In May when I had my windshield replaced they told me I had a $250 glass deductible. I tried to fight it and tell them that I shouldn't, but it was no use. I ended up paying $180 for a new windshield. My mom convinced me to call State Farm again and push the issue with the glass coverage. When I called I was surprised to hear that indeed I don't have a glass deductible. I questioned them about why I had to pay for a new windshield in May and she said to turn in my receipt but rarely are people reimbursed for work they have done outside of State Farm's contracted companies. I wrote a letter and turned it in stating what had happened and the injustice of it all. I turned it in and had a check 2 hours later. I thought if I got a check it would be months before I saw it. So all in all this punk shooting out my window was a blessing in disguise. I ended up getting my money back that I wouldn't have known to fight for otherwise. I ordered my kids Christmas gift yesterday and we get to pick it up on Saturday. I had been saving up money for their present and this just put me $6 over. What a happy day! So, I hope all of you get your windows shot out...not really, but maybe there will be something that happens that seems bad and turns out to be really good. Thanks little punk for my kids Christmas!

One little raindrop that made it through the hole. You can see little pieces of glass on the door.

Very blurry, but it was the best shot I could get of the hole itself. I'm surprised getting my window shot didn't bug me more. I feel very safe in Yuma and I still do. Someone asked if I was more paranoid now. I haven't given it much thought, I still love Yuma. The cop asked me who I thought did it. I laughed and said I don't think I was a target, it had to be totally random.

It stayed in place pretty well until the glass guys came and replaced it. Only around the edges did it start to come off. And, this picture is proof that it does rain in Yuma.

Sea World!

Friday, August 19th my mother-in-law called and asked if we had plans for Sat. I said we didn't and she invited us to go to Sea World with them. Sea World is something that I have looked forward to doing with the Sorenson's since I met them. It was something they did regularly as kids and they all have fond memories of it. It was even a joke in the family that you aren't a Sorenson until you've been to Sea World with the family. It took me 7 1/2 years to be a real member of the family... and it was a day worth waiting for. I thought it would be more fun with just Nathaniel and myself initially. I changed my mind when I saw my kids faces and got to go on rides with them. Even Tanner and Nathan were much better than I imagined. A lot of that is because Tanner adores Papa and fussed unless Papa carried him. That made life easy for me and I loved to watch them together. Tanner doesn't take to anyone really...but he LOVES his Papa. Eliza was hilarious at the Shamu show. We sat in the soak zone and wore ponchos. Eliza's was a little loose in the front near the neck and she ended up soaked anyway. I was watching her as "Shamu" splashed her and her face was to die for. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I didn't want to risk ruining the camera. I rode and the little roller coaster ride with Kate and it was so fun. Eliza was a little concerned with me riding the ride since I was pregnant. That's illegal and I could have been arrested. I guess I still have some of that old day spunk still in me. They take your picture at the first drop on the ride and then charge $15 for the picture (maybe $20). We don't usually buy into things like that, but the look on Eliza's face with a riot and Kate had a look of sheer terror on hers. We suckered into buying it and it sits in our living room for a continual laugh. It was SUCH a wonderful day. It was so fun to share it with Nana, Papa, Nancy, Quentin, and all the cousins. I hope we do it again. My kids ask me all the time when we are going back. I am so glad Nana and Papa surprised us with that trip. It was a pretty perfect day.

Tanner and Isaac were twinners for the day.

My personal favorite show was the dolphins. The dolphins did cool tricks, but they had divers do some really amazing things too. I thought it was sooooo cool. Tanner was a little less impressed...

it was naptime.

Kate got a little tired and found a comfy spot on Daddy. Nathaniel was so great. He didn't want me to miss the Shamu show since Tanner had fallen asleep in the stroller. He stayed out with him so he could sleep and I wouldn't miss the show. I love him.

Nana and Papa and the crew (minus Q since he was in the bathroom).

Sleepy baby.